who are going to be the key competitors / products?

I'll make you a deal - you've give me Saturday's Powerball numbers and I'll accurately predict which of the jillion tablets that haven't been released yet are the best ones. Deal?

and you will see them named.

Gosh you guys, I didn't think that was a bad/sarcaatic question....
I expected some replys like HP, Dell,etc.

And no, i'm not sharing my lotto #s...

Motorola will be offering the first killer tablet alternative to the iPad with the Xoom. HTC, if it gets involved in tablets at all, will release an amazing piece of hardware as they usually do.

HP will release some Web OS tablet which will probably miss the mark and be way late to the game. Blackberry is releasing a killer awesome tablet, but has crippled it by requiring the user to own a blackberry phone at launch to use email or BlackBerry messaging.

Dell seems to be in its own world with tablets making 5" ones, so no clue about them.


Basically, whoever makes killer phones will make killer tablets. There might be some surprises, but don't expect someone who makes dumpy phones to suddenly surprise with a killer tablet.

In my opinion the Motorola Xoom Tablet is going to be a likely competitor. Assuming all the buzz about it at the recent CES tech show is a good indicator.

I hope it comes to pass that this tablet is worthy of competing with the iPad, it is slightly larger than the iPad, it has the much heralded Android Honeycomb OS, etc. If the Xoom has the same kind of pricing and models like the iPad, I'm going to buy it. This product announcement is almost as 'exciting' as the iPad's advance publicity last year.

So far, all the other announcements from CES on the tablets don't seem as attractive as this one. Engadget.Com declared the Motorola Xoom as the best of the tablets at the show. Since your other posters told you to go somewhere else, I am giving you a link to Engadget's Best of CES product review. Here is a link:

Best of CES 2011 -- Engadget

Originally Posted by mutts2

Gosh you guys, I didn't think that was a bad/sarcaatic question....
I expected some replys like HP, Dell,etc.

And no, i'm not sharing my lotto #s...

It's like asking about the iPad2 - no one actually knows anything, all we could do is regurgitate what you'd find on the web. I'm making no guesses until I've had a chance to at least handle some of them, including the next generation iPad.

All we have is pr hype and review samples at the moment and the bottom line is how well the software and hardware are integrated.
It's easy to better the iPad in select areas, such as hardware, file browsing, playing flash, etc., but it's the overall versatility and diversity of software that will decide the winners.
HP and Motorola are the most promising looking so far.

I'm excited about the product development in the tablet arena. From personal experience, I can tell you the hardware is very competitive. Hold one next to the other and they look the same and perform the same. I agree with Hasty, the differences will be in the user experience. Some things the iPad scoffs at and tells you that you don't really need will make a difference. I used an Android tablet for about one month that didn't require a second computer running iTunes, and had lots of ports for external devices. The main window was more than a simple page of icons and was customizable. There are lots of UI innovations in progress and that kind of competition will push tablet technology. Apple paved they way and I'm glad for it, but other companies are innovating right now.